INSTRUCTIONAL COLLABORATION PROJECT (10% of the course grade)

Collaboration project. Librarians must demonstrate the ability to develop an instructional plan in collaboration with members of the educational staff. The most desirable collaboration for the practicum student is with a teacher in the school integrating library literacy skills into the teacher’s curriculum. This may not be feasible for a variety of reasons during your short stay in the school. Ask your supervising librarian for suggestions of teachers who might be interested in a collaborative lesson. If no teacher is available for collaboration plan then collaborate with the supervising librarian on an information literacy project.

Objective of the project. It is imperative that the school librarian is able to design and implement lessons with varied assessment strategies, to implement these strategies in the classroom, and to use assessment data and other feedback to modify instruction to help all students master predetermined learning outcomes. You will reflect on the impact on student learning. The planning, execution and evaluation of this collaborative lesson will exemplify the kind of teaching you will be doing consistently throughout your career.

Teaching the lesson. Once you have your project prepared (hopefully you can teach this lesson more than once) schedule a site visit in order for the practicum director to observe you teaching the lesson. If this cannot be done, videotape the session in which you are teaching the lesson (if this is not permitted by school policy, contact the practicum director).

Components of the lesson. The lesson must be developed based on the Information Literacy Standards in Missouri’s “Communication Arts Grade-Level Expectations,” http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/GLE/ or the American Association of School Librarians’ “Standards for the 21st-Century Learner,” http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/standards.cfm. To complete this assignment you will turn in:
1. The completed lesson plan (format follows).
2. Report the student outcome data from graded student work. Include samples of student work from the lesson.
3. An approximate ten-page reflection on the collaborative instructional experience, the components of which are detailed below. You will evaluate student performance outcomes as part of the reflection.

Reflection on the collaborative lesson. The reflection component of this collaboration lesson is a modified version of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) Library Media Certificate Area, Entry 1 of “Demonstrating Your Teaching Practice and Content Knowledge,” http://www.nbpts.org/for_candidates/certificate_areas1?ID=19&x=55&y=6. Besides demonstrating your ability as a collaborative librarian, this assignment will give you a head start in the process of thinking about becoming a board certified school librarian. Board certification is the highest demonstration of professional excellence.

Your reflection on the collaborative lesson will fall into four parts:
1. Instructional Context (1 page)
a. Description of the school setting and demographics
b. Description of the students in the lesson taught and any significant characteristics about the students that may have influenced your plan.
2. Planning for Instruction (1-2 pages)
a. Why did you choose this particular topic to teach for the lesson(s)?
b. What was the process you used to collaborate with the other person?
c. What level of collaboration were you able to work at? Look at David Loertscher’s taxonomy of collaboration, http://www.lis.unc.edu/daniel/242/Taxonomies.html as a guide for your discussion. Another example of Loertscher's taxonomy of collaboration along side the taxonomy for teachers is here http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslarchive/aaslbucket/slmr/vol8theory.cfm/.
3. Analysis of Instruction and Student Work (4-5 pages)
a. To what extent were students active in the learning activity?
b. Describe any components of the lesson plan including the student materials used.
c. Discuss an excellent example and other examples of student work; comment on the student samples included in your final product.
d. Discuss the grading rubric for the lesson.
e. Discuss the student performance outcomes as indicated in your report on student outcome data.
4. Reflection. (4-5 pages)
a. How well were the objectives of this lesson plan met? What is the basis for your evaluation of the success of the lesson?
b. How would you revise the lesson?
c. Evaluate the intrinsic significance of the lesson. Would you teach it again? Why or why not?

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Sample Lesson Plan

UCM Candidate Name:

Title of Lesson:

Teacher Names, Subjects, and Grade Level(s):

Degree of collaboration: Beginning, Intermediate, or Advanced

Description of planned collaborative effort: The overall learning goals for the lesson and how/why you came up with this lesson.

Objectives: What the student should be able to do, understand, and care about as a result of the lesson.

Assessment: How will you be able to demonstrate that the student has met the objectives for the lesson? Include the grading rubric for this lesson.

Time Allotted and Supplies Needed This section gives the approximate amount of time and the resources needed for completion of the lesson including assignment sheets, resource materials, handouts, etc.

Standards: Information Literacy Standards in Missouri’s “Communication Arts Grade-Level Expectations,” http://dese.mo.gov/divimprove/curriculum/GLE/ or the American Association of School Librarians’ “Standards for the 21st-Century Learner,” http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/guidelinesandstandards/learningstandards/standards.cfm.


Definition: Standards of performance expectations for which pupils are held accountable. DESE expectations includes an explanation of the type of lesson to be presented, procedures to be followed, and behavioral expectations related to it, what the students are expected to do, what knowledge or skills are to be demonstrated, and in what manner.

Anticipatory Set - This is sometimes called a "hook" to grab the student's attention. It may include actions and statements by the teacher to relate the experiences of the students to the objectives of the lesson to put students into a receptive frame of mind.
· to focus student attention on the lesson
· to create an organizing framework for the ideas, principles, or information that is to follow (c.f., the teaching strategy called "advance organizers")
· to extend the understanding and the application of abstract ideas through the use of example or analogy...used any time a different activity or new concept is to be introduced

Teaching / Presentation - Input: The candidate provides the information needed for students to gain the knowledge or skill through lecture, film, tape, video, pictures, the Internet, databases, library collection, etc. Describe briefly step-by-step what this would entail.

Modeling - Create a sample that would demonstrate “excellent” student completion of the lesson plan in order to show students what is expected as an end product of their work. The critical aspects of the sample are explained through labeling, categorizing, comparing, etc. Students are taken to the application level (problem-solving, comparison, summarizing, etc.) during the modeling.

Checking for Understanding - Determination of whether students have "got it" before proceeding. If the class has not understood the lesson, the concept/skill should be re-taught before practice begins.

Guided Practice - An opportunity for each student to demonstrate grasp of new learning by working through an activity or exercise under the teacher's direct supervision.

Closure - Those actions or statements by a teacher that are designed to bring a lesson presentation to an appropriate conclusion. Collect student work to be used in assessment. Help students bring things together in their own minds, and make sense out of what has just been taught.

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Grading Rubric

for the Collaborative Lesson Project

Scoring Guide/Criteria

	Target	Acceptable	Unacceptable
Rating	3	2	1
Presentation (2.2, 3.2)	· Communicates the impact of collaborative instruction (2.2) · Shares expertise in the design of appropriate instruction with others (3.2)	· Communicates collaborative instruction · Shares experiences	· Does not effectively communicate or share experiences or expertise
Lesson (1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 2.3, 3.3)	· Creative and exciting lesson, clearly written, tied to standards, with demonstrated student learning. Advocates for effective use of current and relevant information process and technologies (1.1) · Instills a sense of enjoyment in reading (1.2) · Designs instruction that engages students (2.1) · Advocates for an integrated information literacy curriculum (2.3) · Develops a library media program that reflects best practices (3.3) · Aligns the lesson with the information literacy standards · Effective and varied use of technology is part of the lesson	· Clearly written lesson plan tied to standards. Uses current information processes and technologies · Designs instruction · Understands the need for an integrated information literacy curriculum · Attempts to use best practices · Works towards alignment with information literacy standards · Uses technology effectively as part of the lesson	· Poorly written lesson, difficult to follow, lacking standards and no indication of student learning. · Does not instill a sense of enjoyment in reading · Does not design effective instruction · Does not work towards an integrated curriculum · Does not attempt best practices · Does not align teaching with standards · No technology is used in the lesson
Collaboration (2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.2, 3.3)	· Effective and appropriate moderate to advanced collaboration with teacher. Designs instruction that engages students (2.1) · Can document the impact of collaborative instruction (2.2) · Works to ensure that responsibility for an integrated information literacy curriculum is shared across the school (2.3) · Shares in the design of appropriate instruction with other professional colleagues (3.2) · Encourages growth of teachers and other educators (3.3)	· Beginning level collaboration and interaction with teacher. Designs instruction · Document collaborative instruction · Understand the importance of integrating information literacy across the school · Share in the design of instruction · Assist in the growth of other educators.	· Little collaboration that is superficial in nature. · Candidates do not design adequate instruction with other.
Student Learning	· Demonstrates evidence of successful student learning based on formative and/or summative assessment of lesson Demonstrates knowledge of multiple learning styles to inform the lesson · Student learning is analyzed and assessed	· Evidence of student learning via assessment of lesson · Some differentiated instruction · Student learning is assessed	· No evidence of student learning · No evidence of differentiated instruction assessment or analysis of student learning
Reflection (2.1, 2.2, 2.3)	· Reflection shows the ability to document and communicate the impact of collaboration on student achievement · Reflection clearly addresses specific elements of the lesson that could be modified to improve collaboration and/or student learning · Reflection integrates a knowledge of library and information studies	· Reflection synthesizes the key events that occurred during planning, delivery and assessment. Strengths / weaknesses of the lesson are identified · Reflection integrates information of the library profession	· Reflection is simply a summary of events and does not address student learning or the collaborative process · No indication of information gained from the library field